


Grounding

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 01:53:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17695361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: Two nights before the wedding, they Warp together alone to the grove where second they’d Fused and where first they’d Fused intentionally, lay side-by-side on the damp grass, listening to the brook and eyeing the stars and fireflies, fingers of their respective Gemstone-free hands interwoven in an alternating pattern of red and blue.The breeze carries faint whiffs of rose blossom.“I’m so mad at her, Ruby,” Sapphire whispers, at last.





	Grounding

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Приземлённый](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20663234) by [John_Teppelin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Teppelin/pseuds/John_Teppelin)



Two nights before the wedding, they Warp together alone to the grove where second they’d Fused and where first they’d Fused intentionally, lay side-by-side on the damp grass, listening to the brook and eyeing the stars and fireflies, fingers of their respective Gemstone-free hands interwoven in an alternating pattern of red and blue. 

The breeze carries faint whiffs of rose blossom.

“I’m so mad at her, Ruby,” Sapphire whispers, at last.

“I know.”

“Not just about _us_ , and forcing us to be Garnet—”

“She didn’t _force_ us, Sapphy,” Ruby interrupts gently, her voice simultaneously soft and certain, grounding. Since the revelation of the truth about Rose had sent tremors ricocheting across the bedrock of their relationship—of their very _existences_ —there’d been something of a role reversal between them. Once, Sapphire thinks, she had been the one to pull Ruby back to Earth when Ruby’s fiery emotions threatened to propel her away, but now it’s _Ruby_ that keeps _her_ on firm, warm ground. 

“We’ve _seen_ forced Fusion,” Ruby continues. “All those shard experiments. The Cluster. And that’s not what Garnet is.”

“I...No. Of course not.” Spots of color well up in her cheeks. How could she even think…how could she possibly _compare_ …

“But Rose _pressured_ us,” Ruby validates. “She told us that we were the _answer_ , that we inspired everyone, that Garnet was _important_. Greg helped me realize that she made us forget that it was about _us_ and what we wanted. Or that it was our _choice._ ”

“It…” Sapphire hesitates. “It _was_ our choice, wasn’t it?”

“It was the second time.”

“It was _your_ choice to save me, the first time.”

“Nah, I was your _guard_.”

“But you knew that I’d already accepted what would happen, didn’t you? And you knew that no one would blame you for what I said was inevitable. And you chose to save me anyway.”

“Huh.” Ruby’s chuckle of realization is all warmth in the chilly night air. “I guess that’s true. And then _you_ chose to save me from Blue Diamond.”

The epiphany dawns on Sapphire like the sunrise, and, though it practically changes nothing that they’d already decided, it’s nonetheless an intense relief. “We _chose_ to save each other. Before we met Rose.”

They return to comfortable silence. Frogs chirp. The brook babbles. Crickets fill the night air. She’d fallen in love with this planet—with all its quirks and charms— _here_ , at the same time that she’d fallen in love with _Ruby_. It’s _Ruby_ , it’s always been Ruby, that she sees when she looks at the world blossoming into being in a thousand different potentialities all at once, all around her. And for millennia, it’s been _Ruby_ —and the relationship they shared—that she fought for when she fought for the Earth. 

And she’d _fought_. Oh, _Stars,_ she’d fought. They both had. Garnet had been fighting for her very _existence_ …And the War had gotten so ugly, so many losses, so many of their friends, and even their enemies, battlefields full of _shards_ …

“Sapphy?”

“Hm?”

“You said that it’s not just about _us_ though? Why you’re mad at Rose?”

“No. I…She had us fighting her own _soldiers_. All of Pink Diamond’s Quartzes that fought us and _shattered_ our friends…All of them that _we_ fought, and that _we_ …that were shattered…They were all doing it in Rose’s name, just like we were. And none of us knew. But _she_ did. And she just let us all _do_ it...”

“I never thought I'd hear _you_ empathize with Homeworld soldiers.”

“I could never _let_ myself, before." She turns her heard to face Ruby's. "Aren’t you upset?” 

"Yeah. But I think…if she hadn’t done all those things—if _we_ hadn’t done those things—we wouldn’t have been able to stay together or be Garnet. And we wouldn’t be able to _choose_ to be her again in a few days. It doesn't make it _okay_ , but...” She sighs. “Earth is still so _complicated_ , Sapphy, even after 5,700 years. And I think maybe…Rose was complicated too. More than we ever gave her credit for.”

“Mm.”

“Maybe… _we’re_ more complicated than we ever gave ourselves credit for.”

Sapphire turns her eyes back to the sky, clenches Ruby’s warm fingers tighter. _Flexibility, love, and trust_. “Maybe we are." 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


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